Ember’s response to the draft guidelines for Virtual Power Purchase Agreements in India

Ember expresses two primary concerns regarding India's draft VPPA framework: its potential to undermine power system flexibility and its role as a potentially misleading accounting mechanism for corporate clean energy claims. The organization argues that VPPAs may encourage continued investment in 'plain vanilla' solar without storage, exacerbating midday surpluses and grid balancing challenges. Ember also contends that VPPAs allow industrial consumers to claim 100% renewable energy usage through Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) without physically consuming clean power or contributing to grid stability, potentially diverting investment away from genuine 24/7 clean energy solutions.

• The draft VPPA framework may hinder the transition to dispatchable clean energy by providing a price hedge for 'plain vanilla' solar generators, which could deepen midday solar surpluses and worsen grid balancing challenges.
• Grid flexibility is under increasing pressure, as evidenced by steeper coal ramp-ups and ramp-downs in 2025 compared to 2019; for instance, the maximum hourly ramp-down on May 5, 2025, was -5.7% of peak coal generation, up from -3.2% in 2019.
• Market prices for solar during peak hours (10 AM to 2 PM) in May 2025 fell to ₹1.46–1.55/kWh, representing a drop of over 70% compared to May 2022 levels of approximately ₹4.40/kWh.
• VPPAs may act as an accounting workaround that allows corporations to claim 100% renewable energy use via RECs without physically consuming clean power or investing in storage and flexibility.

APA

Das, D., & Rodrigues, N. (2025). Ember’s response to the draft guidelines for Virtual Power Purchase Agreements in India. Ember. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2025/05/Embers-response-to-the-Virtual-Power-Purchase-Agreement-guidelines-in-India.pdf

Chicago

Das, Duttatreya, and Neshwin Rodrigues. Ember’s response to the draft guidelines for Virtual Power Purchase Agreements in India. Ember, 2025. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2025/05/Embers-response-to-the-Virtual-Power-Purchase-Agreement-guidelines-in-India.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Das |first1=Duttatreya |last2=Rodrigues |first2=Neshwin |title=Ember’s response to the draft guidelines for Virtual Power Purchase Agreements in India |publisher=Ember |date=4 June 2025 |url=https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2025/05/Embers-response-to-the-Virtual-Power-Purchase-Agreement-guidelines-in-India.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{das2025embers, author = {Das, Duttatreya and Rodrigues, Neshwin}, title = {{Ember’s response to the draft guidelines for Virtual Power Purchase Agreements in India}}, publisher = {Ember}, year = {2025}, month = jun, url = {https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2025/05/Embers-response-to-the-Virtual-Power-Purchase-Agreement-guidelines-in-India.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }